University of Alabama exhibit lights up history

Display in Gorgas LIbrary records shift in U.S. attitude about smoking

A display commemorating the 50th anniversary of a 1964 surgeon general’s report about the health effects of smoking is set up in the lobby of Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library on the University of Alabama campus on Friday. A professor in UA’s College of Community Health Sciences has set up a display called “The Surgeon General vs. The Marlboro Man: Who Really Won?”

Staff photo | Dusty Compton

By Ed EnochStaff Writer | The Tuscaloosa News

Published: Monday, November 18, 2013 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, November 18, 2013 at 12:06 a.m.

The old magazines, novelties and newspaper clippings on display in the foyer of the Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library at the University of Alabama are a snapshot of the heyday of cigarettes in the U.S. and a record of the gradual shift in public attitudes about smoking following a landmark 1964 report by the U.S. surgeon general.

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“The report came about because the health organizations like American Cancer Society wanted the government to be involved, because they hadn’t been,” said Dr. Alan Blum, the Gerald Leon Wallace MD Endowed Chair in Family Medicine at UA’s College of Community Health Sciences.

Blum, the exhibits curator, is one of the nation’s foremost authorities on the history of smoking and cigarette marketing and a vocal and long-time advocate for the anti-smoking movement.

The exhibit, featuring an array of materials from the 1930s to present, commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Jan. 11, 1964, release of U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health. Work on the report began under the administration of President John F. Kennedy in 1962.

The document was compiled by a committee convened by U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Luther Terry and reported the serious health consequences of tobacco use, including identifying smoking as a significant risk factor for lung cancer and linking it to emphysema and heart disease.

The exhibit will be on display until Dec. 1 at the library, according to UA.

A version will be displayed after Dec. 1 at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library in Austin and the Texas Medical Center Library in Houston.

On Nov. 20, there will be a reception at Gorgas Library from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. to honor the memory of Terry, an Alabama native, including the premiere of a documentary about the legacy of the report and a discussion of future efforts to reduce smoking and counter its promotion. The short documentary, “Blowing Smoke: The Lost Legacy of the Surgeon General’s Report,” was co-produced by Blum, his son, Samuel Blum, and UA alumnus Jake Buettner.

The materials on display are simultaneously a record of the resiliency of the industry following the damning health report and Blum’s effort to document it.

“It is sort of the story of what I have done for the last 50 years,” Blum said.

Blum started documenting tobacco advertising when he was a boy in the 1950s with the encouragement of his father, a doctor who was upset his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers were sponsored by Lucky Strike despite health concerns about smoking.

“That’s when I started saving the advertising,” Blum said.

Blum has collected thousands of pieces, including promotional items, magazines, government documents, recordings, films and other materials.

UA’s Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society, where Blum is director, houses the collection.

He continues to collect, including current magazines and promotional materials distributed by tobacco companies on college campuses and at bars and nightclubs.

The 1964 report and subsequent regulations about advertising merely became obstacles to be overcome for the tobacco industry.

“This is water off a duck’s back as far as cigarette companies are concerned,” Blum said.

Blum believes the political clout of the tobacco industry was enough to protect it until the 1970s and that its financial clout — in the media, politically and for research — serves it well today. Blum said tobacco has attached itself to cultural, ethnic and artistic events as well.

“They have been able to create the notion that they have contributed to society,” he said.

Blum sees the collection on display at Gorgas as a sobering reminder of the inability of the country to overcome one of its greatest preventable public health challenges.

It’s a cultured pessimism born out of his observation of a tobacco industry that has evolved and continued to thrive and a largely ineffective or uninspired response from the government, major health organizations and institutions.

“I noticed that everybody was saying we are winning the war, but I never really felt that way,” Blum said.

<p>The old magazines, novelties and newspaper clippings on display in the foyer of the Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library at the University of Alabama are a snapshot of the heyday of cigarettes in the U.S. and a record of the gradual shift in public attitudes about smoking following a landmark 1964 report by the U.S. surgeon general. </p><p>“The report came about because the health organizations like American Cancer Society wanted the government to be involved, because they hadn't been,” said Dr. Alan Blum, the Gerald Leon Wallace MD Endowed Chair in Family Medicine at UA's College of Community Health Sciences.</p><p>Blum, the exhibits curator, is one of the nation's foremost authorities on the history of smoking and cigarette marketing and a vocal and long-time advocate for the anti-smoking movement.</p><p>The exhibit, featuring an array of materials from the 1930s to present, commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Jan. 11, 1964, release of U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health. Work on the report began under the administration of President John F. Kennedy in 1962.</p><p>The document was compiled by a committee convened by U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Luther Terry and reported the serious health consequences of tobacco use, including identifying smoking as a significant risk factor for lung cancer and linking it to emphysema and heart disease.</p><p>The exhibit will be on display until Dec. 1 at the library, according to UA. </p><p>A version will be displayed after Dec. 1 at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library in Austin and the Texas Medical Center Library in Houston.</p><p>On Nov. 20, there will be a reception at Gorgas Library from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. to honor the memory of Terry, an Alabama native, including the premiere of a documentary about the legacy of the report and a discussion of future efforts to reduce smoking and counter its promotion. The short documentary, “Blowing Smoke: The Lost Legacy of the Surgeon General's Report,” was co-produced by Blum, his son, Samuel Blum, and UA alumnus Jake Buettner.</p><p>The materials on display are simultaneously a record of the resiliency of the industry following the damning health report and Blum's effort to document it.</p><p>“It is sort of the story of what I have done for the last 50 years,” Blum said.</p><p>Blum started documenting tobacco advertising when he was a boy in the 1950s with the encouragement of his father, a doctor who was upset his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers were sponsored by Lucky Strike despite health concerns about smoking.</p><p>“That's when I started saving the advertising,” Blum said. </p><p>Blum has collected thousands of pieces, including promotional items, magazines, government documents, recordings, films and other materials. </p><p>UA's Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society, where Blum is director, houses the collection. </p><p>He continues to collect, including current magazines and promotional materials distributed by tobacco companies on college campuses and at bars and nightclubs. </p><p>The 1964 report and subsequent regulations about advertising merely became obstacles to be overcome for the tobacco industry. </p><p>“This is water off a duck's back as far as cigarette companies are concerned,” Blum said.</p><p>Blum believes the political clout of the tobacco industry was enough to protect it until the 1970s and that its financial clout — in the media, politically and for research — serves it well today. Blum said tobacco has attached itself to cultural, ethnic and artistic events as well. </p><p>“They have been able to create the notion that they have contributed to society,” he said. </p><p>Blum sees the collection on display at Gorgas as a sobering reminder of the inability of the country to overcome one of its greatest preventable public health challenges.</p><p>It's a cultured pessimism born out of his observation of a tobacco industry that has evolved and continued to thrive and a largely ineffective or uninspired response from the government, major health organizations and institutions. </p><p>“I noticed that everybody was saying we are winning the war, but I never really felt that way,” Blum said.</p><p>Reach Ed Enoch at ed.enoch@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0209.</p>